Dates confirmed for 2023 Solheim Cup in Spain

DUBLIN, Ohio – Jordan Spieth’s revival continued on Thursday at the Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide, where the former FedExCup champion opened with a 6-under 66. Related: Leaderboard | Tiger shoots 2-under 70 But the 11-time PGA TOUR winner was measured with his thoughts after a round that had him just one shot off the early lead. Spieth was able to climb the leaderboard thanks to some brilliant scrambling and pure putting. He chipped in twice and dropped in a 35-foot eagle putt over the course of his round. “It was okay. Some more work to do on it. I missed three greens with wedges and plugged one in a bunker with a punch 8-iron. So I had four opportunities, ended up off the green on all of them,â€� Spieth said post-round. “Some of those short clubs can certainly get a little tighter. Two chip-ins certainly helped. I felt like I stole a couple early in the round to be under par, and then just kind of played the shots that needed to be played. “I hit a lot of fairways, which was nice, which gave me plenty of looks at birdie, and seemed to capitalize on quite a few of them.â€� Spieth is winless since the 2017 Open Championship, but ended a 10-month drought without a top-10 over the last two weeks, as the Texan finished T3 at the PGA Championship and T8 last week at the Charles Schwab Challenge. Given Spieth’s trend this season has been good early scores but fades on the weekends, he wasn’t getting carried away. The 2015 FedExCup champion says all the work on revamping his swing is showing results and the important mental side of believing he’s on the right track is paramount. He was also particularly cognizant of saving energy, given this is a fourth straight tournament, a run he is using to really ingrain things. “Trying to trust things on the golf course in tournament play is big for me now because, like I said, it’s kind of a significant type of feeling through the swing that if I took a couple of weeks off and came back, it’s a little harder to trust that right away,â€� Spieth explained. “But if you’re used to trusting it, it’s almost like playing through the… I don’t want to say slump… but playing through anything that’s been a little off. And more trusting the golf course the better.â€�

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  CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It doesn’t take much for Rory McIlroy to contend at the Wells Fargo Championship. Five swings on Wednesday evening did the trick this time. McIlroy, making his first start since a difficult defeat at the Masters, headed to the range after feeling rusty in Wednesday’s pro-am. A quick look at the TrackMan made him realize that his clubface was closed through impact. “It almost feels like I’m trying to hold the clubface square for longer,� McIlroy said. That swing thought worked Thursday. He shot a 3-under 68 that left him one shot off the lead after the morning wave. McIlroy, who’s making his eighth start of the season, is 32nd in the FedExCup after a win in March at the Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard. He hit just four fairways Thursday but still gained strokes off the tee by averaging 325.4 yards on all tee shots. More importantly, he hit 14 greens. And the putting lesson with Brad Faxon is still paying dividends, as McIlroy gained +1.6 strokes on the greens. “I love this place,� said McIlroy, who turns 29 on Friday. “I feel like I don’t have to play that well and I can still get it around.� McIlroy has finished outside the top 10 just once in seven Wells Fargo starts, including two wins. He set a course record in each start, shooting a final-round 62 in 2010 and third-round 61 five years later. Jason Day was on the practice green in 2010 when he watched a frustrated McIlroy walk off the ninth green after making the cut on the number. Two days later, McIlroy was holding the trophy after making 17 birdies and an eagle on the weekend. “He’s explosive in that way,� Day said. “It’s very similar to what Tiger does. He’ll come to a course and he’ll like it so much that he’s very dominant on it. This is a driving golf course. If you’re a good driver, you get the opportunities. He hits it long and straight and obviously he’s putting better.� Quail Hollow lets McIlroy hit a lot of mid- and long-irons and swing aggressively off the tee. The towering trees that frame the fairways help him envision the proper shot. When asked if it reminded him of Augusta National, McIlroy laughed and said, “I’ve just won here a couple times. That’s about the difference.� Of course, McIlroy needs a Masters win to complete the career Grand Slam. This year’s edition was his closest call at Augusta National since he completed the other three legs. A third-round 65 put him in the final group with Patrick Reed, but even during that remarkable round McIlroy could tell his game was not in top shape. “I was sort of holding it together,� he said. And it fell apart under the Sunday pressure. He shot a final-round 74 to fall into fifth place. He spent the week after Augusta National binge-watching television shows (Billions), reading books (The Chimp Paradox, Essentialism) and drinking wine. “Erica had to drag me out of the house,� he said. “Once I got back in my routine, I was fine.� He confirmed that Thursday. He’s back to his old ways at the Wells Fargo Championship.  

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Tiger Woods is an inexhaustible source of incredible statistics. To celebrate his 43rd birthday, we’ve compiled a 43-question quiz on some of his most incredible accomplishments. Even if you can’t get them all right, we hope you learn something about his historic career in the process. Good luck! Note: Each answer is listed below each question. 1. Sam Snead is the PGA TOUR’s all-time wins leader with 82 victories. How many does Tiger have? A. 78 B. 79 C. 80 D. 81   Answer: C. 2. How many times has Tiger finished second on the PGA TOUR? A. 24 B. 58 C. 45 D. 31   Answer: D. 3. In what percentage of his 346 starts has Tiger made the cut? A. 98 B. 91 C. 86 D. 80 Answer: B. 4. What is the largest winning margin of Tiger’s career? A. 12 B. 8 C. 15 D. 10   Answer: C. 5. Tiger is 11-1 in playoffs. His only loss came to: A. Vijay Singh B. Billy Mayfair C. Ernie Els D. Bart Bryant   Answer: B. 6. Tiger holds the PGA TOUR record for most seasons of five-plus wins. He won five or more events in how many seasons: A. 5 B. 6 C. 8 D. 10   Answer: D. 7. Tiger won his first title in his __th PGA TOUR start as a pro: A. 1st B. 5th C. 10th D. 20th   Answer: B. 8. Who did Tiger Woods defeat in his first PGA TOUR playoff? A. Tom Lehman B. Phil Mickelson C. Ed Fiori D. Davis Love III   Answer: D. 9. True or False: Tiger Woods also won THE PLAYERS during the Tiger Slam of 2000-01, giving him the five biggest titles in professional golf?   Answer: True 10. Tiger Woods won the first of his three U.S. Junior Amateurs on a course where he would later win eight PGA TOUR titles. What course was it? A. Firestone B. Bay Hill C. Torrey Pines D. Doral   Answer: B. 11. How many times has Tiger failed to win in a season when he’s made more than 12 starts? A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3   Answer: A. 12. Tiger has a career-high five runner-up finishes to this player. Who is it? A. Ernie Els B. Vijay Singh C. Phil Mickelson D. Jim Furyk   Answer: C. 13. Tiger finished second in all of this player’s PGA TOUR wins: A. Rich Beem B. Y.E. Yang C. Trevor Immelman D. Bart Bryant   Answer: C. 14. Tiger’s first PGA TOUR event was the: A. 1995 Masters B. 1992 Genesis Open C. 1992 Farmers Insurance Open D. 1993 Honda Classic   Answer: B. 15. Where did Tiger Woods win by 15 strokes? A. Augusta National B. Pebble Beach C. Bay Hill D. Firestone   Answer: B. 16. Tiger’s career low round on the PGA TOUR is: A. 59 B. 60 C. 61 D. 62   Answer: C. 17. Byron Nelson holds the longest winning streak in TOUR history (11 events). What is the longest winning streak of Tiger’s career? A. 5 events B. 10 events C. 7 events D. 3 events   Answer: C. 18. True or false: Tiger Woods is the only player to win THE PLAYERS in both March and May.   Answer: True. 19. Tiger Woods holds the record for most weeks at No. 1 in the Official World Golf Ranking. How many weeks was he No. 1? A. 406 weeks B. 683 weeks C. 254 weeks D. 927 weeks   Answer: B. 20. How long was Tiger’s longest reign at No. 1 in the world ranking? A. 281 weeks B. 501 weeks C. 105 weeks D. 368 weeks   Answer: A. 21. The biggest match-play win of Tiger’s career came at the 2006 World Golf Championships-Dell Technologies Match Play. He beat Stephen Ames. What was the winning margin: A. 7 and 6 B. 8 and 7 C. 9 and 8 D. 10 and 8   Answer: C.   22. True or false: Tiger Woods has finished runner-up to Phil Mickelson more than Phil has finished second to Tiger?   Answer: True 23. Tiger Woods made a PGA TOUR record 142 consecutive cuts. Where did his streak end? A. 2006 U.S. Open B. 1998 Canadian Open C. 2005 AT&T Byron Nelson D. 2009 Open Championship   Answer: C. 24. Tiger Woods won the inaugural FedExCup after winning the TOUR Championship with the lowest 72-hole score of his career. What was that score? A. 253 B. 257 C. 259 D. 260   Answer: B. 25. How long was Tiger’s first tenure at No. 1 in the world ranking? A. 1 week B. 26 weeks C. 50 weeks D. 281 weeks   Answer: A. 26. Tiger Woods won both the U.S. Amateur and NCAA Championship in 1996. He won the NCAA Championship by four strokes after shooting what score in the final round? A. 65 B. 68 C. 75 D. 80   Answer: D. 27. Tiger has won six tournaments five or more times. Which one of these events has he NOT won at least five times? A. The Masters B. BMW Championship C. Memorial Tournament presented by Nationwide D. Arnold Palmer Invitational presented by Mastercard   Answer: A. 28. Tiger Woods won the 1997 Masters by 12 shots. What did he shoot on his opening nine holes of the tournament? A. 30 B. 40 C. 36 D. 29   Answer: B. 29. Dustin Johnson has five wins in World Golf Championships, the second-most all-time. Tiger leads the list with how many WGC wins? A. 10 B. 12 C. 15 D. 18   Answer: D. 30. What is Tiger’s career winning percentage? A. 18% B. 23% C. 27% D. 15%   Answer: B. 31. How many times has Tiger won a tournament by four or more strokes? A. 8 B. 31 C. 18 D. 24   Answer: D. 32. What is Tiger’s all-time Presidents Cup record? A. 24-15-1 B. 15-24-1 C. 19-20-1 D. 20-19-1   Answer: A. 33. When Tiger became No. 1 in the world ranking for the first time, he surpassed this player. Tiger also beat this player in singles in Tiger’s Presidents Cup debut. A. Greg Norman B. Nick Price C. Ernie Els D. Vijay Singh   Answer: A. 34. Tiger has finished in the top 5 in __ percent of his PGA TOUR starts? A. 25 percent B. 67 percent C. 33 percent D. 46 percent   Answer: D. 35. Tiger has held the outright 54-hole lead (no ties) 45 times in his PGA TOUR career. How many times has he FAILED to win when holding the outright 54-hole lead? A. 0 B. 1 C. 2 D. 3   Answer: C. 36. How many times has Tiger led the PGA TOUR in par-5 birdie or better percentage? A. 0 B. 10 C. 3 D. 7   Answer: B. 37. Tiger leads the PGA TOUR career money list with $115,504,853. How large is his lead over No. 2 Phil Mickelson? A. $5 million B. $12 million C. $27 million D. $39 million   Answer: C. 38. What is Tiger’s largest final-round comeback? A. 4 strokes B. 5 strokes C. 6 strokes D. 7 strokes   Answer: B. 39. Tiger played just six tournaments in 2008 before his season was ended by knee surgery. He finished second once. How many times did he win? A. 5 B. 4 C. 2 D. 1   Answer: B. 40. Tiger played 76 rounds in 2000. How many were over par? A. 0 B. 4 C. 10 D. 12   Answer: B. 41. How many holes-in-one has Tiger made on the PGA TOUR? A. 0 B. 10 C. 3 D. 7   Answer: C. 42. How many times has Tiger won a tournament by 10 or more strokes? A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5   Answer: C. 43. What is Tiger’s average margin of victory in his 77 stroke-play wins on the PGA TOUR? A. 1 stroke B. 2 strokes C. 3 strokes D. 4 strokes   Answer: C.

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